All posts tagged blanket squares

This is the second of my Mothers’ Day posts. I was very excited about this one, because I don’t often have an actual finished object to show anyone. But at last, the blanket for my lovely Mum is all sewn up and ready for snuggling in! Here it is, draped over my bed.

Happy Mothers’ Day, Mum. Spot the deliberate mistake(s)

This blanket has taken me a year to make. I gave my mum the very first square a year ago, on Mothers’ Day. And I’ve worked on this project all year – in my sunny little porch, in springtime, and then in the summer, when I was in bed after surgery. In the autumn, when I was going through rehabilitation, I had to buy in even more yarn – a very yarn-hungry blanket, this one! And in winter, when I’d started back at work and the nights drew in, I began to knit the edging squares. Sewing up all the squares and darning in all the ends has taken me a month. But it’s worth it!

Lacework edging

This blanket is by no means perfect – in fact, I believe there’s a deliberate mistake in every square! But it has been such a pleasure to make it for my mum. And woohoo, I’ve finally finished something! I have a sneaky suspicion my mum will ask me to back it with something, so it might actually come back to me before long. But I did it! I made something! A whole thing, just by myself. Hopefully the next project won’t take me a whole year..

It’s time to take a short break from blanketeering. My mother’s day blanket is a work in progress, but coming along nicely (to be saved for another post). But I confess, I am getting a bit tired of all the endless blues and creams. Which is why my latest ‘short project’ is an altogether brighter affair.

Happy Colours!

This yarn is Rico cotton dk, and it comes in really juicy, happy colours. Over Christmas I discovered the fantastic Attic24, whose blog has seduced me into choosing brighter colours, and into believing that truly beautiful things can be made through crochet, as well as knitting. I’ve never attempted crochet before, but with the help of YouTube, I was managing to turn out rather scruffy looking granny squares in an afternoon or so. In particular, videos from AussieCrochetChick were helpful.

And here they are, my rainbow squares:

My first crochet.

I can’t claim to be an expert, but I’m surprised at how quickly it is to knock out a couple of granny squares in front of the TV. What’s more, I have a feeling that they won’t turn into a blanket! I do have an idea in mind for these little suckers, but I’ll keep it to myself for now.

Granny Squares – definitely not just for grannies.

They may not be perfect – but I think they look so cute and colourful. The perfect antidote to all the snow and slush that’s blanketing our isolated village right now. The only accompaniments I need are a log-burner and a cup of tea. DVD box set optional…

I don’t know whether it’s the furious bouts of video game action, the increased confidence I have in my crutches, or the occasional sunny day that we’ve had recently, but week 4 sees a big improvement in my mobility and pain levels. It’s easier to get up and down the stairs, and I can sit, stand, and move about for longer. I am far less reliant on painkillers, although paracetamol still features rather heavily in my life! I celebrated my progress with a tentative glass of wine – and enjoyed it.

Highlight of the week was a visit from my my rudest and funniest friends from the local knit and knitter group, and we had a wonderful cup of tea and a gossip. It felt GREAT to be back hearing all the village gossip, and for the first time I could envisage myself knitting again.

And look! My friends brought with them a beautiful, hand-crocheted present! All my friends clubbed together and made squares for this beautiful blanket.

A woolly hug – definitely the best medicine!

I love how the use of red contrasts with the pastel tones – I would never have thought of doing this, but it really works. In fact the colours remind me of my favourite flowers, which are currently all over the house. I like to put little posies of them in vintage bottles. They brighten up dark corners of bookshelves and look gorgeous clustered with a little pile of books.

Who doesn’t love sweet peas?

Best of all though, my blanket has a secret message in one corner:

I did not cry at all when I read this, oh no.

‘Made with love from all your friends at Knit and Natter’. Oh, I wanted to sob! I’m so, so lucky to have such loving, and clever friends. If ever I needed some motivation to get moving and get back to my rather raucous and sweary evenings with the Hatherleigh Hookers, this was it. And with my first physiotherapy and rehabilitation appointment coming up next week, I think this motivation is going to come in rather handy…

When it comes to knitting, I appear to be a ‘big project’ girl. My first ever knitting project was a gorgeous cardigan from Debbie Bliss’s Andes pattern book. It would appear that a cardigan is not the easiest knitting project for a virgin knitter, and mine ended up looking a bit like the lab coat I used to wear in Physics lessons.

Since then I’ve migrated to blanket squares. Now these I like, because

They are portable.

If it turns into a clusterf*ck you can rip the square up and start again with out ruining the entire project

You get to practise lots of different kinds of stitches (see point 2). I learned intarsia, cabling, bobbles and lace stitching methods this way.

If you knit enough of them you can turn them into a really special ‘heirloom’ blanket

You can check out another of my efforts here, but this one (below) is for my mother. I made the first square and slid it into a card for her on Mother’s Day. I think I’m about half way there now. I probably need about 20 more squares, plus more to add a ‘hem’ all around.

Mistakes? I’ve made a few..

As you can see it’s still a work in progress. It looks scruffy – but so did my other one until I tidied the ends up and stitched them together. I can’t wait to see the finished thing, but that might be a way off. I am not a ‘natural knitter’! At my village ‘knit and natter’ group, I do more nattering than knitting, and when I do knit, my elbows tend to get in the way of everyone else. But hey, I don’t really go there for the knitting – I go there for the hilarious conversations (yes really). And also for the swearing. It sounds a bit American Pie (as in ‘this one time, at band camp..’), but the air in our village turns bluer than this blanket when us ‘yarn ho’s’ are having a coven meeting.

One or two ends to tidy up still..

The yarns I’m using are Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran. They work interchangeably in this project as they knit up on the same needles and have a very similar feel. I am hoping my mum will use this blanket in her garden summer house, which has gorgeous seaside views, so I chose sea blues, mixed in with neutrals.

Knitting – sometimes an outdoor sport.

All of the patterns from these squares were adapted from this book – truly a bible for knitters of squares. As a novice knitter I was stunned to find there are rather a lot of these books, but this is the best. I know. I knit a LOT of squares.

This is a Very Good Book.

And that’s it. My latest work in progress, and proof that knitting blanket squares is NOT just for grannies. Anyone with wanky hips can do it!